The Blessing
By William M. Self, Sr.
If your life is working for a paycheck or possessions
You are working for the wrong thing
If you are working to please God you will be working for the
blessing
Living the Blessing
Abraham left his family and home land
In obedience, God says…
“I will bless you”
What is the blessing?
Sandy and I are looking forward to a trip to Myrtle Beach.
I envision holding Sandy’s hand as we
walk the ocean beach
in the warm sun…
With NO RESPONSABILITIES!
Now that is what I call a blessing.
BUT WAIT!!! That is not what God called Abraham to.
Abraham lived his whole life living
in tents moving from place to place…
Threats to the
convent continually arose…
Difficulties in producing an heir…
Threat of bondage in Egypt…
Family conflict between Sarah and Hagar…
God’s testing of his faith…
In Hebrews, we read Abraham never fully
found the land he was looking for…
“For he was looking forward to the city with
foundations,
whose architect and
builder is God.” Hebrews
11:10
Yes, Abraham increased in earthly possessions.
His walk of faith provided greater possessions for his
descendants.
The picture we see is not blessings being land or
possessions…
Although they were a part of it.
The blessing was God’s presence…
Living a life that pleases God first.
Many of us are looking for the possessions
of life and call ourselves and others blessed
according to the amount of things.
But the person who lives by faith…
Whose heart is after God’s presence…
Will be blessed whether he has little or much.
It is a matter of which comes first in your life…
Working for possessions so
we can call ourselves blessed.
Or, working for a God-pleasing life
and the possessions come next.
Which takes first place in your life?
Scripture
Reading
Genesis
12:1-3 NIV
The Lord had
said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people
and your
father's household and go to the land I will show you.
2 "I
will make you into a great nation
and I will
bless you;
I will make
your name great,
and you will
be a blessing.
3 I will
bless those who bless you,
and whoever
curses you I will curse;
and all
peoples on earth
will be
blessed through you."
Hebrews
11:8-10 NIV
By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place
he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did
not know where he was going. 9 By faith he made his home in the promised land
like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and
Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking
forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
Hebrews
11:13-16 NIV
All these people were still living by faith
when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them
and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and
strangers on earth. 14 People who say such things show that they are looking
for a country of their own. 15 If they had been thinking of the country they
had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 Instead, they were
longing for a better country — a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to
be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
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